Touch of Flame

There was a long silence again when he confessed that she was his breedmate. His brothers, especially the one who ordered for her to be taken away looked confused and angered as he looked between her and Malachi.

"Tell me this is a joke."

"It is not," Malachi said.

The woman released her hair, while his brother laughed but Malachi remained serious, still keeping his eyes on her.

"Is that so?" His brother asked walking over to her. He grasped her arm harshly and pulled her closer to him. "Is this human, your breedmate?" he grabbed her jaw harshly forcing her head up.

Malachi frowned.

"Saul! What are you doing?" His mother asked looking disturbed.

Malachi held his hand up to stop her from interfering. Saul squeezed her jaw hard causing her pain.

"How do you know she didn't inject something into you, to make you believe she is your breedmate?"

"Nothing was injected into me." Malachi lied. "She is my breedmate."

"Bloody hell," Saul pushed her away hard causing her to fall sideways. She ignored the pain in her hip and looked up. Malachi didn't look her way. Now he stared at his brother, looking almost pained. "That human is not becoming our queen!" his brother told him. "Her people just killed three of our own."

"That you couldn't hold back despite my orders."

"So you don't mind them dying?"

"Don't change my words!" Malachi said between clenched teeth. "Besides, you killed hundreds of her own."

"Oh look at you," he said stepping back and holding his arms out. "Look at your king everybody." He looked at everyone else and then turned back to him. "Spent some time with your human breedmate and now you are already softening. Changing. Remember what happened last time you did so? Remember why Amal is dead!"

"Be quiet!" Malachi growled. "Another word from you today and I will take it as a challenge to my position."

They glared at each other, both of them with eyes blazing with fury. Clearly, this challenge was not something either of them wished and one of his other brothers stepped forward to take Saul away.

Saul let himself get dragged away but kept his eyes on his brother until he disappeared into the crowd.

"Well," his mother was about to step forward but Malachi put his arm in front of her to prevent her.

"Mother, this is not our guest." He told her as if knowing what she would do.

"She is your breedmate." She reminded.

"And our enemy." He pointed. "Kayla. Brenna. Proceed with what you were doing."

He gave her one last repulsed glance before putting his arm around his mother and leading her away.

Brenna and Kayla came forward, feeling comfortable with proceeding. All the people that gathered here were from the royal family otherwise, the brother wouldn't be so comfortable defying the king.

Who were these? His sisters? His sister-in-laws?

The one she thought to be Brenna grabbed her by the hair again. "You really are white." She said.

"Yes. Cold. Like they call her. The cold-hearted princess." Kayla said.

"Well, princess. You will get some taste of slavery." Brenna told her dragging her forward.

"I can walk even if I look fragile to you," Ravina spoke.

"Is she talking to me?" Brenna asked Kayla.

"I don't hear anything." The other woman said.

"You must be so scared of me. And my inventions."

"Nobody is scared of you princess."

"Oh, now you can hear me?" Ravina mocked.

The woman yanked her head back, grabbed her by the throat, and forced her down on her knees. "Don't be smart with me, human. I am standing between you and death now."

Ravina glared at her. "I would think twice if I were you. One day I might be the one standing between you and death." She leaned closer, ignoring the grip on her throat. "When your king stops denying his feelings and his instinct takes over, things won't look good for any of you."

The woman released her and threw her head back with a laugh. The other one joined her. "Oh my. You are unexpected. Exciting I must say. Lucky you, I like a challenge and I fear few."

She pulled her up by the arm. "Since you are so sure you will become a queen then we really need to let you do some labor work. Like your people did for us." She mocked.

Ravina had an answer but kept her mouth shut this time. There was a time to let them fool around and a time to speak. Either way, they certainly acknowledge she was exciting. Just how exciting would be a surprise to them.

"Your shoes look good. Give them to me." Kayla said.

"They won't fit your big feet," Ravina told her.

A slap that almost made her deaf in one ear landed across her face.

"Not the face, Kayla," Brenna said almost mockingly. "You might leave a mark on her white skin. We don't want to anger the king for hitting his queen."

Yes. They were definitely his family members. Ravina looked back at them, giving in this time. She tossed her shoes away.

"Good," Kayla told her, kicking them away. She didn't want them. She just wanted her to walk barefoot. They passed many houses, people staring at them questioningly, then they came to a river. Two women were washing clothes.

"We have a slave," they said introducing her. "She will do the work. You may leave."

The two women rose from their seats and left thanking them.

"Now princess," Brenna turned to her. "You have a lot of washing to do. Go ahead." She hit her on the back, pushing her forward. Kayla made herself comfortable by sitting on one of the large rocks and Brenna joined her.

Ravina looked at the several baskets of clothes then she went ahead to wash them. She could still feel the heat from the slap and her ear was still a bit tone-deaf.

Ravina had watched Ester wash clothes sometimes so she knew how it was done. She ignored the women watching her and did her work. Her scarred and peeled hands burned like hell but it was a good distraction from the women who began chattering about their lives.

Ravina half-listened in case they said something interesting or valuable but they were talking about an incident she had no clue about. She shut them out, her thoughts drifting back to her home. Ester. Uncle. Ares. Would she ever see them again?

"Hey princess!" Suddenly Kayla's panicked voice pulled her back. Ravina looked up at her from where she sat crouching near the river. Kayla wore a frown on her face. "What have you done?"

Ravina looked back at the clothes. They were covered in her blood. Her already peeled skin, was peeled off even more from washing the clothes.

"Oh well," She looked at them again. "My apologies. My white skin is quite fragile."

The women looked at her disturbed.

Ravina stood up. "Have you never seen blood? I thought that was what you washed your clothes with. Human blood."

"I will wash our clothes with your blood soon." Kayla was about to hit her again but Brenna stopped her.

Ravina raised her brows pretending to be lost. "I am already doing it for you." She shrugged.

"You snake!" Kayla spat losing her temper and Brenna had to keep her away.

"No. I am human. You are the reptiles."

Brenna seemed to have had enough with her so she released Kayla to come forward to hit her.

"Speak!" Ravina yelled, glaring at her with fury before the woman could land another slap. Kayla paused. "Clearly you lack intelligence if you can't fight back with words and have to use your fists."

Suddenly she heard a familiar chuckle coming from above. She looked up to find Malachi standing on a balcony in the nearby house. He looked down at them amused.

"Isn't she entertaining?" He asked.

Kayla let her arm fall. "I will admit, she has quite the tongue. She is determined to be your queen. Are you charmed?"

"I am indeed."

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Bonus dedicated to Marianne33, Onix-Rain25, Reader2022, and Ivette_M11. Thank you for spoiling me with the supergifts <3.